Date with the Devil
by Chrissiemusa
Summary: When three women from different universities inside Seattle Washington are killed the BAU is called in to investigate. What they discover though could change one agents life forever. First CM fic. Now complete!
1. Into the Bullpen

**AN: This is my first Criminal Minds story. I would like to thank my beta reader MeGkAtHeRiNe for her help in editing and proofreading this chapter. Please review and tell me what you think. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT in anyway shape or form own the characters or the show Criminal Minds**

**Chapter 1 – Into the Bullpen**

Monday was the worst day of the week. Not because the weekend had ended, or their only time to relax had been cut short, but because being called into the BAU always meant someone else needed their help. Emily's boots clicked as she walked through the bullpen to see Reid reading the paper, Morgan and Rossi discussing their weekend activities over coffee and Hotch sitting at his desk upstairs. Stopping at her desk, she took a look at the sticky note on her computer monitor. It was another message from her mother. Taking it from the monitor, she scrunched it up in one hand and then threw it into the bin without a second glance.

Emily and her mother, Elizabeth, had never been particularly close; in fact, they had grown more distant as the years rolled on. Emily hated politics after all, and most of the time all her mother would discuss is the political correctness of something she said or did. It wasn't worth the time. Taking a glance around the room again, she saw JJ sitting at her desk, next to Hotch's office. Her head buried in her hands. Worried about her friend, Emily stood from her chair, made her way up the stairs and entered JJ's office with a knock. JJ lifted her head from her hands at the sound and looked to her raven haired friend. "Hey," she sighed with a small smile as Emily stepped into her office and took a seat opposite her desk. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," JJ replied before she closed one of the files on her desk. "There are just too many files; it's hard to choose which one to cover."

"But you did choose? That's why we are all here isn't it?" Emily inquired, a fine brow raised into her hairline.

"Yeah I picked one. I really don't know how we are going to work on this new one though, it seems pretty random."

"We'll see. How was your weekend?" Emily asked, trying to change the conversation into a more light-hearted one. "It was good. I took Henry to the park with Will. It was nice, and to have some time off where there wasn't any work. Then I show up today and my desk is covered in new cases."

"Looks like it's going to be a busy week then," Emily sighed, looking to another strategically placed file. "That it does, how was your weekend?" JJ asked.

"Fine," Emily replied quickly, too quickly for JJ's liking.

"Just fine?" JJ's right eyebrow rose when she asked the question.

"Yeah…" Emily sighed looking to the wooden tables varnish.

"Em, what's going on?"

"It's nothing," she tried to be reassuring, but it didn't work too well. "It's just… I didn't do anything with the time off. I sat at home, went for a run once or twice. But I didn't see anyone, go anywhere, I just stayed at home and drank a little wine here and there and watched a few old movies."

"Is that really so bad?" JJ asked with a smile, "I wish I could relax like that, but it's becoming harder and harder to do with Henry needing mum's attention all the time. Especially at night; Henry starts crying and Will sleeps really deeply, so he doesn't even hear him. So I have to get myself out of bed. It doesn't make it easy." Emily nodded to show that she understood. "Have you tried to meet someone? I mean to, you know, fill the void."

"Tried and failed. Besides, most of the guys that I've met are complete freaks; self obsessed jerks or just plain stupid." JJ laughed

"Are you sure they are actually like that or did you profile them that way?" Emily released a breath with a slight chuckle. "So what if I profile people? I am almost always right about guys. Most of them run a mile when they find out my job; catching serial killers is not really a turn on for guys."

"Yeah I guess that's true." JJ replied before standing to her feet and shuffling her folders together. "Well I think it's time to debrief everyone on the new case." Emily got the picture and stood to her feet before walking toward the door. "And Em…" JJ called. Emily stopped and turned to JJ. "I'm sure you'll find someone to help fill the void one day."

"Thanks for the optimism JJ," Emily replied before walking out of the office. JJ looked back to the files on her desk and before she knew it found herself standing in front of the BAU team at the conference room. They all sat in their usual seats. Emily and Derek to the left hand side of the table, Hotch, Rossi and Reid to the other. Each looking over the file in front of them, already creating a profile with each word they read. JJ turned on the television screen with the use of her remote control, when Garcia entered the room. "Sorry I'm late," she apologised. "Do you know how long the queue at the Coffee Shop was?" Garcia complained placing down two cardboard cup holders, each one filled with everyone's coffee order for the day. "Must be something about Monday," she sighed taking a seat next to Derek.

"Actually Garcia, coffee is the most popular stimulant and four out of five Americans drink it. That calculates to four hundred million cups of coffee per day; so, it can't just be because it's a Monday," Garcia and the others watched as Reid smiled to himself because of his facts.

"Well if they all have a super genius like you working with them, I can see why they would need the coffee boost," Emily joked as Derek, JJ, Garcia, Rossi and Reid all laughed for a moment.

"I think it's time we were debriefed now," Hotch began, his voice deep and dark. By the look on his face, he was irritated with the banter but allowed it to occur anyway. "Sure," JJ replied turning to the others as a series of pictures appeared on the screen behind her. "A total of three young women from Seattle Washington Universities have been murdered. The first victim, Stacy Warner, was a 19 year old undergraduate who was studying biomedical science at Washington State University – West." An image appeared behind her to show what the young woman looked like. She was blonde, blue eyes, fair skin, beautiful to the eyes. "The second victim was Brooke Stevens, age 18. She was studying Business at South Pacific University. She entered university early on an academic scholarship," A new image appeared on screen, pushing the image of Stacy Warned into the top, left hand corner. Brooke had long brown hair, green eyes, fair skin although it was slightly darker than white. "The last victim was Elaine Ross, age 20, studying music at the Seattle University College of the Arts." The second picture of Brooke was placed next to the first in the top left as the final picture appeared. Elaine had short black hair in an edgy style with deep brown eyes, fair skin, shiny white teeth and was also a fairly attractive young woman. JJ flipped the page as the profilers began to find any clues that they could.

"Did any of them live on campus?" Emily inquired. JJ nodded her head and checked her notes before answering. "Stacy and Elaine both lived on campus, but Brooke lived with her parents."

"Anything else?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah, according to the forensic reports, each one of them was stabbed multiple times in the chest, stomach, arms and legs. However, there were no sign of sexual assault on any of the victims."

"That's horrible," Garcia sighed looking to the pictures of each girl after they were attacked. She stopped herself from walking out the door, and instead found the table to be very interesting all of a sudden. "We'll be travelling to Seattle as soon as possible to meet with Detective Rupert Adams, who will talk us through any other evidence."

"Where were they dumped?" Rossi asked, looking up from the files and into JJ's eyes.

"They were found on their respective campuses. Stacy was found inside the door at the biomedical facility, Brooke was found inside one of her classrooms and Elaine was strategically placed." JJ used her remote to flip to the next picture. "She was sitting at a piano, her blood staining the keys."

"He would have to have access to all the Universities to do that," Derek began.

"But the positioning of the bodies also indicates that he is evolving further. He is getting more and more creative, and gutsier each time. He went from leaving the body at the door, to entering a classroom, and then placing it inside one particular position," Reid explained.

"But he's not a sexual sadist," Emily added. "If he was, then they would have been sexually assaulted in some way."

"Unless he is getting off on watching the murders occur again and again," Hotch added. "Were there any videos found by the relatives?"

"No sir," JJ replied. "Detective Adams said there was no footage or photos sent to the families residences." Each profiler went back to the file they held.

"I think Reid was right," Emily interrupted the silence for a moment as the others all looked to her.

"About what?" Hotch asked.

"With the escalation of his attacks," Emily replied reading the file again. "Not only does he get more and more strategic, but the first attack happened in one week, then the other two occurred the week after. He is killing more than twice a week and if he's just started, that is a very quick and very unusual escalation."

"It's also very dangerous," Reid interchanged. "Usually if an Unsub escalates too quickly, they can devolve quickly too."

"The sooner we get on the jet, the sooner we can fully profile him. JJ, have you called Detective Adams and told him we are on the way?"

"Already done sir," JJ replied as Hotch stood and the others followed.

"Everyone be ready in twenty, looks like we are going to the University."

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><p><strong>AN: Chapters 2 will be coming soon. Don't forget to review.<strong>


	2. Entering the Criminal Mind

**AN: Thank you to all the people who have reviewed and subscribed they really mean alot to me and encouraged me to post this new chapter sooner.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Criminal Minds**

**Chapter 2 – Entering the Criminal Mind**

Twenty minutes was all that the team needed to be ready for the case. Garcia remained behind at the BAU Headquarters waiting for any call from the team to tell her what was happening. The previous cases they had been working on were taking their toll on the team; the weekend just before was the first time they had a couple of days to relax in almost a month. It wasn't that Garcia wasn't happy that they worked so well together, or that they were catching bad people and locking them away. Her concerns were for the team's mental wellbeing more than anything. It didn't matter how hard they tried to mask their emotions during or after a case, they were always going to be there.

Emily took her seat on the plane, drinking her second cup of coffee. She arrived at her favourite seat and opened her laptop to check her emails. JJ decided to sit across from her to drink her glass of water and read over another file, making notes about what to do with the press when she arrived. Emily looked over the screen until she found the Inbox icon and opened it. There she saw one email bold and waiting. Emily read the address and immediately recognised it as her mothers. With a slight eye roll and a shake from her head Emily deleted the email immediately without opening it. Then shifted down to the deleted email section and removed it permanently. Closing the laptop screen down she took a hold of the case file in front of her and read it over, looking over to Rossi, sitting in his chair, pen in between his teeth, obviously thinking deeply about the case. Hotch had a booth all to himself. The table spread with various sheets and books for helping him solve the case as quickly as possible.

JJ looked up to see Emily reading the file. "Em?" she began.

"Yeah," Emily replied, her eyes still attached to the page.

"The BAU got a call today from your mum, did you get the message? I put it on your computer."

"Yeah I got it," Emily replied, pretending to read the case file.

"Did you read it?" JJ asked with a slight smile. Emily looked to JJ and put the file down on the table.

"No," Emily replied simply. JJ put down her pen and file as well.

"I'm guessing that little shake of the head was because she emailed you as well," JJ inquired quietly, not to alert Morgan or Reid who were playing cards at the back of the plane. "Yeah," Emily sighed in return.

"Why don't you want to talk to her? She is your mother after all."

"Biological mother, not emotional one," Emily replied leaning further back in her seat. "I just don't see the point in trying to talk to someone who doesn't talk back."

"What do you mean?" Asked JJ, a little confused.

"I mean she might be talking to me, but it's not really her talking. It's her politically correct self." Emily paused and looked out the window for a moment. "Your mother read you bedtime stories, held you if you had a nightmare, looked after you and actually loved you. Mine was more worried about her political standing than her daughter. If I had a nightmare she would tell me to shut up and get to sleep." JJ looked to her friend sincerely.

"I understand," JJ began, "that must be why you can compartmentalise better than most people."

"Pretty much," Emily replied with the rising of an eyebrow before it returned to its original position. "I just want her to talk to me and for it to be her not some fake illusion of a caring human being."

"Have you told her this?"

"No," Emily replied. "I tried when I was a teenager but it never worked. She's just not worth the time of day to me."

"I think it's time we started working on the profile," Hotch said loudly as he stood and found himself seated across from the ladies. Derrick and Reid took a seat opposite them for the small congregation in the middle of the plane. "What do we know so far?"

"He takes these girls to a remote location, kills them, then places their bodies on their University campuses." Rossi started.

"He's also escalating much faster than a regular unsub which could cause him to mentally breakdown further along the way," Morgan added.

"He's targeting women, late teens, early twenties but there is no distinct pattern or way to link the deaths together other than the universities" Emily continued.

"Which are all different," JJ chirped in. "Plus their university degrees also differ, science, music and business, they are completely different on the academic scale."

"But why these women?" Emily asked. "They are all different, there appears to be no link between them. In appearance they are all different, their campuses and courses are different. So what ties them all together?"

"We'll have to get Garcia to do some digging on the victims. What else do we know about the Unsub?" Hotch continued.

"He leaves their bodies at the universities, all of them inside, so he must have access to the campuses." Derrick continued.

"But not just one," Reid added. "He had access to all three universities. I am guessing that the only way he would have a key is if he was a professor, electrician, plumber or some other type of tradesmen."

"Good Reid, anything else?" Hotch asked. There was only silence, truth was that until they arrived and Garcia found something for them they would just have to wait and see. "Okay then here is what we will do. We have three universities to cover and there's six of us. Problem is that someone has to stay at the office with Detective Adams as well as the family members." He paused for a moment to think. "Okay here's how it will work out. Morgan you will go to the first crime scene. Reid I want you working on a geographic profile, see if we can find a pattern inside the locations of the universities, I don't want to rule anything out yet." His gaze turned to JJ. "JJ you will handle the press and the family and stay at the police quarters until we need you. Rossi, you will go to the second crime scene, see if there is anything in particular that was missed. I will go to the third scene to check things out there and Emily you will stay with Reid and work on finalising the profile, use Garcia as much as you need to then tell us what you have found out." Emily nodded her head even though she preferred to be out in the field. "Should we release an alert for the University students?" JJ asked.

"No not yet, not until we have something concrete." Hotch replied. "I don't want every woman attending University to run scared and leave the Unsub in hiding." JJ nodded to show she understood.

"Everyone clear on what they are doing?" The team nodded to Hotch's question. "Alright, let's try and wrap this up as quickly as we can. This will be his third week so he may escalate again."

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><p>AN: The real action will build up later in the story, the first few chapters are just to help set the scene. Let me know what you think?<p> 


	3. Clicking Pens and Driving Conclusions

**AN: I want to take the time to thank everyone who has reviewed and alerted this story. I also wanted to thank Lois 13 for their anonymous reviews :) I hope this chapter was worth the wait.**

**Chapter 3 – Tapping Keys, Clicking Pens and Driving Conclusions**

Garcia sat at her desk watching the local news reports and waiting to hear anything about their Seattle case. She wasn't sure exactly what she should be doing now. The last time she tried to play a game, the entire system was hacked. She really didn't want that to happen again, so instead she waited for the phone to ring and watched the television above her head. Taking a few breaths, she watched as another report of a car accident was on the news. They seemed to be getting more and more frequent, or maybe it had been that long since she had watched the news, she hadn't noticed the steady increase in deaths per year. Reid would probably know all the facts related to it but she thought it better not to worry about.

JJ, Prentiss and Reid took one car together. Emily was behind the wheel, JJ sitting in the passenger seat and Reid taking a ride in the back. Hotch, Rossi and Morgan had all taken separate vehicles to get to the local authorities, helping them save time on travelling to pick up the SUV's later to travel to the universities for observation.

Driving carefully behind the wheel, Emily kept her eyes trained on the road and her speedometer. It was warm inside the city and as Reid opened the window beside him and looked outside, he could see the city in all its wonder. It was rare that they ever had any time to do sightseeing while on a case. Most of the time the only sight inside a city they saw was either of a dead body, crime scene, or some twisted location for the Unsub to keep his victims. At the moment, it appeared that they would see all three in the one day.

The silence was a little uncomfortable for JJ, and she quickly flicked the radio on to help break it. The radio started to report on the traffic conditions first, before moving to the weather. Then a recap of the local news began and, sure enough, the report about their latest victim's body being found was all over the airwaves. Listening to the reporter as they described the scene, they wondered how many people had contaminated the site. Then again, they also wondered how much time they would have until another report like this came streaming across the airwaves. Turning left at a set of lights and then right at another, Prentiss pulled into a small driveway to park the SUV and immediately found a spot. Removing their seatbelts, the team exited the vehicle and waited for Hotch, Rossi and Morgan to arrive before entering. It was better if the entire team was there at once for the meeting with the local Detective, it would be one hundred percent better than having random FBI agents walking in and out the doors without an invitation.

Waiting for another five minutes, JJ thought it was time to start some type of conversation. "So what University did you go to?" It was a simple question, and it related to the case... worth a shot right?

"I went to Caltech after I graduated high school and got my PhD's in Mathematics, Chemistry, and Engineering, BA's in Psychology and Sociology and am working on a BA in Philosophy," Reid explained as JJ and Emily both shared a glance. "What about you Em?"

"Yale," Emily replied simply. "But I didn't study or get anything as interesting as you Reid," Her voice full of sarcasm. "I travelled a lot with mom before finally settling down to get a BA in Psychology and Criminology. But I did learn a lot of languages." Emily paused, brushing her hair from her eyes. "What about you JJ? You never told us where you went."

"I got a soccer scholarship at the University of Pittsburgh because I was the varsity team captain when I left school. Did a degree and ended up here." She admitted willingly.

Another minute and the others arrived. The small congregation walked through the large class doors, ready for their next case. Taking a step forward of the others, JJ lead the group through the main room to an eager looking man walking speedily toward them. His badge worn proudly around his neck indicated that he was the one who called them in. JJ held her hand out first as it was shaken. "Agent Jereau, thank you for coming," the man began.

"Let me introduce you to the rest of the team," JJ began the usual introductions by turning to face them, "Unit leader SSA Aaron Hotchner, SSA's Emily Prentiss, Derek Morgan, David Rossi and Dr Spencer Reid." Each member of the team held up their hand to signal what name was actually there's before the team was led into the room that Emily and Reid would be seeing a lot of for the next few hours. "I'm Detective Adams and this is where you will be working. It's not a lot but it's got a table, chairs, whiteboard, markers and a phone. Everything you said you needed."

"Its fine," Hotch said, taking a step forward. "We have started working on the profile but would like to take a look at the crime scenes while three of our members remain here to finish the geographical profile and work on criminology."

"Of course, anything you need." Detective Adams replied, he was just happy to have some help working the case, anything they needed to help him catch the person doing this he would gladly provide without a second thought. "Could you please get a map of Seattle into the room for the team and come with me to the third crime scene? Morgan will be going to the first and Rossi the second."

"Sounds good to me. We better go now though, the sooner you can have a look at things then the sooner this can be over."

"And we need it over soon," Prentiss began. "This Unsub is escalating quickly, and if we don't find him soon, his third week could be worse."

"Prentiss is right," Hotch replied. "Alright everyone move out and Emily call Garcia, get her digging on the victims recent transactions, phone records, movements, and education. We need to try and find a link."

"Yes sir," Emily replied before Detective Adams, Hotch, Morgan and Rossi all left the room leaving Reid and Emily with JJ. JJ started to pin photos on the board to get it ready to add any more evidence they found. Reid left the room in search of the largest map of Seattle he could find while Emily called Garcia.

Garcia watched the news reports as they continued to talk about the recent murder in Seattle. She hadn't seen JJ appear on the TV yet, so they were obviously waiting for any news regarding their murders first. Suddenly the phone rang, and Garcia leapt to answer it. "Hey my raven haired beauty," she greeted, seeing it was Emily calling on her cell.

"Hey Garcia can you work some magic with your fingers for me?"

"I'll see what I can do, what do you need?" Garcia asked, her hands positioned over the keyboard in wait.

"I need some digging on the victim's lives. Stuff about their parents, home life, transactions, phone records, movements and education. We need to know as much as we can. See if you can find a link and call when you get something."

"Okay, working the magic now." Garcia smiled, her fingers already typing at lightning fast speeds.

"Thanks Garcia," Emily replied.

"Oh wait a minute!" Garcia called.

"What? I didn't think your magic worked that fast?" Emily joked.

"Has JJ seen the news? They are starting to make assumptions about the Unsub; she might want to try and calm down the situation. It's looking pretty hectic."

"Okay thanks P.G," Emily finished.

JJ turned to her dark haired friend who was ending the call. "What's up?"

"Turn on the news," Emily replied. "The press are starting to go crazy about the Unsub, can you…"

"Take care of the situation?" JJ finished. "Of course I can. I'll write up a statement to read, but it will be pretty vague. I'll give a better description when you have the profile finished."

"Sure," Emily replied as JJ left the room in a rush just as Reid walked into the room with a map almost his height. Emily helped him pin it to a far wall as he read the map to find the universities locations and marked them.

Morgan's fingers tapped on the steering wheel as he drove. Part of him wondered how much information the crime scene would really give him. It had been two weeks, the university might have reopened the building entrance for it students already. That would mean crime scene contamination and the last thing he needed was to think about an Unsub when he was surrounded by medical students. Finally turning left into the university campus, his mind started to flash back to when he attended himself. Of course, it wasn't this exact university, but the feeling was still there.

In some cases, like Reid, university was a haven. A place where you could be yourself, make friends, study what you wanted to, you could live on campus or travel to and fro. It didn't matter about your race, intelligence, culture or status. That was when Morgan thought of a conclusion. What if this Unsub wasn't attacking the people, but rather the place? What if he was trying to show people that university is not all it's cracked up to be? He would have to get Garcia to check out that lead as well and tell Emily to see if it fits with her profile.

Parking the car, he was met by one member of the universities security team. "Agent Morgan?" he inquired, holding out his right hand. Morgan shook his hand as the stranger introduced himself as Christopher Massey. "How long have you been working here for?"

"About three years or so," Chris replied before starting to walk toward the medical institute building. "Normally it's pretty quiet; you don't get a lot of problems. In the three years I've been here I've never had anything bad happen until this."

"How many security personnel do you have here?"

"We have approximately 40,000 students, 50 security staff."

"How many cleaners?"

"We have 30 cleaners and ten maintenance workers to help keep the lights working, security systems on, doors locked, etc." Chris explained as they reached the yellow tape and stepped underneath. Chris then used his cardkey to access the doors mechanism to get in. "Have any students been through here?"

"No we redirected everyone through the back entrance to keep the area clean until we were told it was okay to open for access again," Christopher Massey explained as they stepped inside to see the chalk layout of the body along with human blood specks. "It's been two weeks since she was found, the blood was starting to congeal, we had a forensic team come in and clean it up. The smell was becoming pretty bad." Morgan took a look at the outline. There didn't seem to be any particular shape or style. It was obviously the first kill. "How many staff members are there?"

"About 5,000 Academic staff and 16,000 Administrative staff."

"And do they all have that cardkey you were using?"

"Yes sir," Christopher replied. "The cardkeys are just staff or students ID cards with a built in microchip. They allow after hour's access to all doors inside the campus."

"What about the dorm rooms? How are they accessed?" asked Morgan, kneeling to the ground to take a better look. "They are by key; students rent the dorms through the university and are given a key to use to access their apartment. Only those keys can be used to unlock the doors."

"Thank you for your time." Morgan began standing to his feet and looking at the young security guard in the eyes. "If you find or remember anything else please contact us." Morgan held out a copy of his business card and the security guard took it in his hand. "Thank you," Christopher replied as Morgan left the building and walked toward the SUV. He had a few clues already relating to how he made his way into the room, however, the cardkey access didn't narrow down their suspect pool one little bit and interviewing twenty-one thousand staff members and forty thousand students was definitely not an option.

Sarah Taylor clicked her pen for the tenth time that lecture. She loved studying History and strongly believed that someone had to know where they came from in order to know where they were going. Sadly though, learning all the facts and listening to their lecturer's monotone voice didn't help to keep her attention on the subject. Clicking her pen again she looked to the blank piece of paper in front of her, what she was supposed to write when it all seemed irrelevant. The young man sitting next to her looked to the lecturer when he heard a yawn coming from his left. "Oh," she sighed afterwards, wiping her eyes and patting her face to try and keep herself awake.

"It's hard to stay alive in this lecture isn't it?"

"Sure is," Sarah replied. "It's crazy really, I mean I like learning about History but sometimes it's so hard to stay focused." Sarah took a glance down to her watch.

"Are you late for something?" He asked, referring to her action.

"Nearly yeah, hopefully he'll stop so I can get home and then go to work," she replied with a smile before they tried to listen to the lecturer below. "My name's Zack by the way," he introduced as Sarah turned to face him. "Nice to meet you, I'm Sarah."

"Nice to meet you," Zack smiled when he saw her looking to her watch again.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I've just got a lot of stuff happening right now. My parents are pretty heavy on the 'getting a career' stuff, plus I have a heap of assignments and exams coming up, work and other extracurricular activities."

"Really, like what?" Zack asked.

"I take violin lessons. I like playing but sometimes I just need a break you know." She paused. "I don't mean a 'one week off until next semester' kind of break, I mean a real break. Some time to get my head around things and to help work stuff out for myself." Sarah explained.

"Life's rough sometimes," Zack replied with a sigh. "You know, if you have to go I can take notes for you if you want."

"Would you?" Sarah began, "I mean only if you want to, you don't have to take anything for me-"

"Hey it's okay," Zack interrupted. "Do you live on campus?" Sarah nodded. "Okay so just tell me your unit number and I'll drop by later tonight to help you catch up." Zack explained with a smile.

"Are you sure," Sarah asked, feeling a little guilty about leaving someone to endure this horrible lecture while she bailed. "You really don't have to; I can see the professor later to catch up instead."

"It's okay," Zack reassured before Sarah took her pen and wrote the unit number on his workbook. "I'll see you later tonight then."

"Yeah," Sarah smiled, placing her books into her bag and turning toward him. "Zack," he turned to face her once more. "Thank you."

"Don't worry about it. You can thank me later." Zack replied with a smile as he watched her walk to the end of their row of desks the smirk still spread across his face. She was going to thank him later alright.

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><p><strong>AN: Chapter 4 should be up in about a weeks time :) Don't forget to tell me what you think.<strong>


	4. Crime Scenes Are Ugly Places

**AN: Thank you to everyone for their amazing reviews and alerts. Each of them inspires me to post sooner and to write more. I hope you like this chapter and don't forget to let me know what you think, love? Hate? Why? Thanks so much for reading!**

**Chapter 4 – Crime Scenes Are Ugly Places**

Hotch and Detective Adams had arrived at the third crime scene, the piano concert hall at Seattle University. Walking from the car Detective Adams showed Hotch the way to the hall. They were met by two security officers who were telling people to stay away from the area. Their student's death had occurred just the week before so it was still fairly recent. Taking a pair of gloves from the box provided both men opened the doors and entered the hall. Standing in the centre of the stage was a large, black, grand piano. Hotch walked up the stairs to see its keys, stained with dry red blood from Elene Ross's body. Looking further around the area he tried to see anything that could have helped them. "Did forensics come through here?" Hotch asked, his voice echoing off the walls to the Detective who was inspecting the seats around the perimeter. "Yeah they did but the place was clean. Plus since there were thousands of students in here the day before she was dumped their DNA was all over the scene."

"What about the Piano, anything there?" Hotch asked.

"Nothing," Detective Adams replied looking to a pen that had been left between two chairs. "Students were practising on it before she died, any of those hundreds of fingerprints could be from students, staff, there were too many samples for them to try and single out anything." Hotch looked further around the stage when he saw small blood droplets leading towards the back door. Carefully following the trail he arrived at the back. Then he saw a small white box attached to it. "Detective!" Hotch called. The Detective ran down the tiered stairs and walked onto the wooden stage. "What is it?" He asked.

"It looks like he came through the back door." Hotch explained. "How is this door opened?"

"I don't know," Detective Adams replied when one of the security personnel opened the front door.

"Is everything okay in here?" He asked loud enough for them to hear.

"Come down here for a minute!" Hotch called and the officer arrived beside him. "How do these doors work?"

"Cardkey," the officer replied removing his staff ID card and placing it on the white box until a green light appeared and it opened. "How many students and staff does this university have?" Hotch inquired. "We have about 200 staff, 4,000 students1; in comparison to others we are very small."

"Do they all have access to all the rooms inside the university?"

"Well yes, students are prohibited inside the staff rooms but that's about it. We are a twenty four hour university. Students come past everyday to go to computer laboratories or to practice inside the concert hall."

"Okay, thank you," Hotch replied. "Here's my card, call if there is anything else out of the usual."

"I sure will," the guard replied taking the card as Detective Adams and Hotch walked back up the stairs toward the main doors. Each removed their gloves before putting them into a nearby bin. "Agent Hotchner," Detective Adams began to gain the agents attention.

"Yes," Aaron replied, wondering what this man wanted from him. Hadn't he been trying hard enough already? "Why ask so few questions?"

"The crime scene wasn't very helpful because it's been a while before we were called in. If we can find out how they get into the building then we can find out how they dump the bodies and my team can help to fill in the necessary blanks. The fewer questions we ask the less people assume." Hotch finished. "The press will find out about our visit to the university and the less those guards know the less they can release to the public."

Jennifer Jereau should have been used to doing this. Facing the cameras, watching what she said, having microphones pushed into her face. She was used to delivering the news that she had to in order to keep her team and the investigation safe. Problem was it never felt any better when she did. Stepping into the media swarm JJ readied herself to be bombarded with questions and they came. One after the other, each one trying to hit her across the face and make her try to fault and say something she wasn't supposed to. "My name is Jennifer Jereau; I am the media liaison for the FBI's Behavioural Analysis Unit. We received news of three women who had been killed and have been working on the case to find who did this. At the moment we are working on a profile and gathering our evidence, once we have what we a proper need profile will be given to the local authorities and they will choose the correct course of action for us to follow."

"Agent, is it true that the girls have been killed over two weeks, the first week having one die and then the second week having another two?"

"It is true that three women have been killed over a two week period yes, however their timing and the link between the deaths is yet to be found."

"Agent Jereau," the reporters were constantly calling her name now. Instead of answering the questions she replied, "No further questions," and walked as swiftly as possible back into the building.

Upstairs Emily looked down to her profile. So far it wasn't much. Then again she didn't have much to work with. It was still Monday and she couldn't believe how quickly the hours had seemed to fly by. Reid was still looking at the map on the board trying to calculate where the killer may choose to strike next but it was difficult. This unsub was like no one they had ever profiled before. He left no evidence, killed in multiple high-security locations with seemingly random targets. What was the link? Emily's phone rang to wake her from her thought filled day dream. "What have you got Garcia?" Emily asked putting it on speaker phone so Reid could listen in. "Okay well with regards to the girls educations they all attended different high schools but they were all very busy young ladies. The Warners lived in a high-class estate and sent their daughter to work at the local hospital for night shift and attend uni during the day. As well as help the local community with projects."

"That's a lot to take on at once," Emily replied. Reid wondering what the problem would be, but then remembered that they weren't talking about a young boy genius. "Brooke Stevens, was studying both a Business and Accounting double degree and at the same time was working and undertaking other extracurricular activities like looking after the local football team and fixing computers part time. She was living with her parents but it seems that things may have been on the rocks since her mother and father divorced earlier this year because her father claimed that his wife was making his daughter do too much at once," Emily's eye brows rose higher into her brow.

"What about the last victim?"

"Elene Ross, music student, not only was studying music at university but also was teaching the guitar and drums to students during the week and during her break period. Plus she was also working part time at her local music store to help them sell instruments before she composed sheet music and covers through the internet to help pay for her university debts and rent at the campus."

"Okay what about phone records or transaction history?"

"Everything checked out, each girl only went where they normally did. With their schedule this busy there wouldn't be any time to stray from the path really."

"Okay thanks Garcia. You'll be getting a few more calls before the days out."

"Gosh this is the longest day ever," Garcia groaned. "Don't forget to sleep you too; it's starting to get late."

"We'll be fine and actually every day has the same amount of time so even though it feels like it's been a low day it really has been running at its regular pace." Reid explained as Emily looked to the phone and shook her head slightly. "Emily, how do you deal with that?"

"You don't," Emily replied. "Talk soon P.G, over and out."

"Over and out." Garcia replied before stamping the end of call button on her phone with a purple pen equipped with a pink feather and strawberry scented eraser.

Morgan, Hotch and Detective Adams all returned to the office but Agent Rossi was still missing. "Hey how did it go?" Emily asked, standing from her seat.

"We learned a few things but it's too much for us all to take for now. I've booked us a hotel down the road for us all to stay in. I couldn't get a room for each of us so we have three rooms to the five of us."

"What about Rossi?" Asked Reid who seemed to be the only one to voice the absence of the agent to the rest of the group?

"Dave is at the Seattle Pacific University in the north and it will take a while for him to get back. He offered to stay in a hotel up there and will meet us back here at the station in the morning to talk through our evidence and help with Emily's profile." The group all agreed. "We'll be staying at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel near the State Library. Meet you there in ten minutes." Hotch finished before walking out the door and collecting his belongings.

"JJ, share a room with me?" Emily asked as JJ smiled and nodded her head. It had to be better than being in the same room as one of the guys. Girls had to stick together. "Oh no," Morgan replied, "I am not sleeping in a room with Reid."

"What is it with you and Spence?" JJ asked leaning against the door as Morgan stood to his feet.

"Nothing against you kid but you recite facts in your sleep," he replied. "I hear enough about them during the day let alone at night."

"Okay then Reid can share with Hotch," Emily finished and the room went silent. "Well that solved it. Time to go, Reid you coming?" Emily asked.

"Yeah," Reid replied as Emily stood from her chair, took her jacket with her and walked with JJ out of their small room, into the main office and out to the elevators. All three stood inside as Reid pushed the bottom floor button and the metal doors closed.

* * *

><p>AN: Two final things.<p>

Firstly, I had to do a lot of research about the universities so some of the details will be off. Google could only do so much for me

Secondly, I know the story seems to be moving slowly but in the show they don't run out guns blazing in the first ten minutes, it's usually a slow build up. The action is coming though I promise you and the team will get closer to finding the unsub. Thanks for sticking with me. Next chapter will be up soon.


	5. Restless Nights

**AN: Thanks to everyone for their amazing reviews/alerts and favourites :) each one makes me smile. Enjoy.**

**Chapter 5 – Restless Nights**

Sarah took another bite of the chicken burger she had bought for her dinner and read over her textbook again. Taking notes and summarising as she read she looked to the television to see Agent Jereau giving a formal statement about what had been happening to students in the various Universities. No real details were given which didn't help the situation. Swallowing and taking another bite she was disturbed by the sound of someone knocking on her door. Sitting up from the couch she walked to the door, quickly chewing and swallowing the part of her burger that she had missed. Looking through the hole in her door she saw Zack waiting patiently outside, books inside his hands.

Using her hand to open the locks she slid the chain across the door until it came loose and opened the door. "Hey," Zack smiled before lifting his books in front of him. "I took those notes for you, can I come in?"

"Sure," Sarah replied. "Come on in," Zack nodded as he stepped into her small flat. The place was clean to say the least. "Do you live here alone?" Zack asked waiting for her to lock the doors before she walked toward the kitchen for a moment. "Yeah it's just me," Sarah replied. "You can take a seat on the couch; just move some of my books out of the way." Zack followed her orders and moved some of her History books out of the way. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"No thank you," Zack replied honestly before Sarah stepped from her kitchenette and walked to the couch. Carefully she sat down next to him. "So how was the rest of the lecture?"

"I'm here so I haven't died yet, felt like I could though," Sarah laughed slightly as she picked up one of her note books. "Okay so what are your notes?" She asked. Zack removed his book from behind him and passed it to her. She took a look over the notes and began to write down the most important ones. Looking around the room Zack's eyes turned to the television. Agent Jereau giving her conference, they had it on repeat all day. Turning his head slowly from the television to Sarah who was madly writing he said, "Actually I think I'll have a glass of water."

"Oh let me get it for you," Sarah offered.

"No its okay," Zack replied. "I can find everything," he smiled to convince her and Sarah went back to copying the notes into her book. Stepping into the kitchen Zack removed two gloves from behind his back and quietly drew them on. Then he opened a cupboard, took a glass and walked to the sink to fill it. Running the tap but not filling the glass he moved around the kitchen silently until he found her set of kitchen knives. Taking the largest he could find Zack took a step toward Sarah. "Did you find everything?" Sarah asked when she turned to see the knife in Zacks hand.

"Yeah, I found everything I need."

Hotch and Reid found their room on the second level, the farthest right hand corner. Walking first with Morgan and the ladies following behind they each found their hotel room, said their goodnights and opened their rooms. All of the rooms were the same. Two beds, two night stands, two lamps, a sink and small kitchen, shower and toilet in the bathroom. "Em, can I have the first shower?" JJ asked. "Sure," Em replied before selecting her bed closest to the door. Lying on it she removed the television remote from her nightstand and turned on the television to see JJ giving her conference. Leaving it on she began to look through the order in menu but nothing sounded too appetising. Putting the menu on the stand she leant back to let her body relax and after a few minutes her eyes closed completely and she fell into a deep sleep.

JJ finished her shower and had gotten dressed into some more comfortable clothing before she walked out still drying her hair, "Hey Em, the showers free." Instead of hearing a reply all JJ heard was silence. She walked out into the main room to see Emily sound asleep on the bed. Smiling slightly at how peaceful she looked JJ walked over and removed the agent's boots and socks before she found a blanket and used it to cover her body. Emily didn't stir an inch. JJ then heard her own voice coming from behind her and she turned quickly to find it was only the television. Taking the remote from the nightstand she turned off the television and the lamp next to Emily's bed before she lay in her own.

Morgan was glad that he had some time to himself. There was something about this case that didn't make sense and it was getting harder and harder to find anything to work with. Although he didn't want to say anything, he knew that if they didn't have another victim with some evidence they may never have catch the guy. There were too many people with access to the universities. They all had card keys and there was no way to narrow down the suspect pool. They may have a chance if they find something unique in the profile, but at the moment things were looking a little hard for the famous BAU team. Rolling onto his side Morgan closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come, and within a few minutes it did.

Reid and Hotch had been quiet when they arrived inside their room. Each one took a shower and then was ready to relax and try to get some sleep. Hotch plugged his phone into the charger in the wall but kept it on in case of emergency. "Hotch," Reid began as he lay down on his bed.

"Yeah Reid?" Hotch replied sitting on the edge of his bed and looking to the young genius.

"Where did you go to university?"

"I studied Law for a while before being assigned to the FBI office here in Seattle, why do you ask?"

"We were just talking about it earlier today that's all." Reid replied before turning away from Hotch and closing his eyes. "Night."

"Night Reid."

JJ had been enjoying her sleep, Emily hadn't moved all night and the silence always felt nice after a hard day at the BAU. After having camera's thrown into her face and having to board the jet to Seattle WA it sure as hell never got any easier or any less tiring. JJ dreamt of her son and Will, both of them were happy and playing around the playground, it reminded her that when she got back she would spend as much time with them as she could. Maybe get on a plane for a holiday instead of for work.

Yes, sleep was something that JJ and the rest of the BAU enjoyed because it wasn't always easy to get. That was until her phone began to vibrate on the night stand next to her. Rolling over with a groan she took the phone and decided to answer it outside. Opening the door she stood out on the balcony. "Agent Jereau," she greeted with a tired yawn. "Where?" She asked again. "Okay, I'll wake the team." JJ looked at the time before closing the phone. It was early in the morning and the sun would be up in a few hours anyway. It sure didn't make her feel any better about having to wake her team. Walking back into her room she decided to wake Emily first. Using her hands to shake the agent gently awake Emily began to arouse. "Em, you've got to get up." Emily opened her eyes before she looked to her tired friend. "What's wrong JJ?"

"We have another victim," JJ replied.

The team congregated downstairs near their cars to discuss the plan. "Okay, here's what we do. Emily I want you to continue on the profile. The only information I found was related to the Card Key systems. I need you to look at the system that they are using at the universities, does it log the users names."

"He is trying to get into the buildings using the keys, but are they his own keys or those of the victims?" Morgan asked. "I also had another theory," Emily had her pen ready and scribbling. "What if he was attacking the locations, university campuses instead of the victims themselves? It could be the link."

"Okay," Emily replied. "I'll get Garcia to check."

"When Emily is finished then you will present it to the local authorities and to us. From there we will notify the universities of the profile for students, staff, we need to narrow down the suspect pool. You will stay with Reid and Prentiss at the station. I have already called Rossi, he will meet Morgan and myself at the new victims drop site." Hotch explained. "If this is his first kill for the week and its only Tuesday then we could be looking for another victim as soon as tomorrow so we need to work fast."

David Rossi hadn't seen a case like this one before. He had heard of cases where the killers simply got away because the suspect pool was too large. Who would notice one small fish amongst the entire ocean? He knew they needed to get everything done but from what he could see at the second sight there wasn't really much to go on. Taking out his phone he called JJ at the police station to tell them his part of the profile so he wouldn't have to worry about it later. "Agent Jereau,"

"JJ can I talk to Emily, I have something for her profile."

"Sure," JJ replied before moving from the small office she was designated to and entering where Reid and Emily were working. "Emily, Dave's on the line." JJ explained before putting it on speaker. "You've got Emily and Reid." JJ explained as she closed the door.

"How is the profile going?" He asked.

"It's going okay," Emily replied, hoping to sound eager about spending another day paper pushing. "So far we haven't found the link but Morgan said it might be about attacking the university campuses more than the victims themselves."

"I don't think that's right," Dave replied. "Don't get me wrong I see how he came to that conclusion but I don't think he is trying to become more bold but is instead becoming more personal."

"What do you mean Rossi?" Asked JJ as she took a seat across from Emily.

"With each victim he seems to be getting more and more close to. It might be because he stays with the victims for longer periods of time. Do you have any idea about a secondary location?"

"No not yet," Prentiss replied. "At the moment it looks pretty doubtful that he actually has a secondary location at all."

"From the evidence we have collected so far it could be possible that he is using somewhere else to attack or hurt the victims but it looks highly doubtful." Reid replied.

"From what I saw at the other crime scene and from what Hotch told me on the phone, it seems more likely that he has used some other way of meeting them. Maybe they trust this guy; it would allow him to get close enough to attack them with the knife without a second thought."

"I'll add it to the profile. Tell us what you find out with the new victim." Emily finished as Rossi agreed and hung up the phone. Reid took a look at his map, so far their profile was coming together but they still needed to find out who was killing the girls, or at the very least, where he would strike next. Emily took a look at the map he was using for a moment. She saw four areas circled, they were obviously the universities. "Give me your pen," Emily replied. Reid handed her the marker as she drew a line from dot to dot to reveal the shape of a diamond. "Reid," Emily paused as he stepped toward the board. "Is there a university inside the centre of this?" Reid took a look at the map, none were recorded. "Agent Jereau," one officer at the door began. "I have the latest victim's parents here."

"Okay, tell me when you get anything." She told her other two team members before asking the parents to a small office where they could talk privately. Immediately Emily picked up her phone and rang Garcia's cell number. "Garcia," she answered.

"Hey Garcia are you in the office yet?"

"You know I am what do you need?" She asked. Emily placed the phone on speaker as Reid asked the question. "Can you locate the universities the unsub has hit so far then draw lines between."

"Sure," Garcia replied, typing frantically until all of the universities were on her screen.

"It should look like the shape of a diamond." Reid finished as Garcia said that it did look like one.

"Is there a university in the centre?" Emily asked. "Right in the middle of the diamond?"

"Uh yes it's the University of Literature Seattle." Garcia replied quickly.

"Okay now can you find out what key card access company they were using for all their doors at the four universities that the unsub has taken victims from so far."

"Sure," Garcia replied. "Looks like its Electronic Locksmiths Pty ltd"

"Now cross reference the company with the Literature University." Emily waited patiently when Garcia continued her checks and finally replied. "Yeah they did all the entrances for that one too."

"How many universities are on their client list?" Reid asked.

"The company base is located in the centre of Seattle, oh no,"

"What Garcia?" Prentiss asked, a little worried about what her reply might be.

"They do almost all of the universities in Seattle for their card key access systems." Reid and Emily exchanged glances, how were they going to find out what was going on. "Can you find out the employee records for anyone who works for the company?"

"I can but honey I am going to need something more." Garcia replied.

"Look for days that they were working and cross reference their location and times with the first murders." Garcia typed again waiting for the results of the scan when they finally arrived.

"There are two employees that were working on all of the university sites during the days they were killed."

"Get us the names," Reid demanded when Emily stopped him.

"Wait," she paused. "Something isn't right." She looked to the phone as Garcia stopped her typing mid sentence. "Rossi said that it would be someone that they would allow to approach them, someone who they would freely talk to and who would get close to them. Staff members don't get close to their students, neither does anyone working at the university on maintenance." Emily looked up from the phone to Reid who seemed slightly confused and yet, at the same time, understood where she was going. "We're ready to give the profile." She announced.

* * *

><p>AN: And we are ready for some action right? I'm really glad that you have all stuck with me through this story so far. I know its been a long wind up but its only to give a really good foundation for the story and I'm glad that you understand why I am doing it. Well here we go. I told you it would be coming :)<p> 


	6. Days and Nights

**AN: Thanks again for the reviews/alerts and even a few favourites :) the team is delivering the profile and coming closer to catching Zack.**

**Chapter 6 – Days and Nights**

Meanwhile, Hotch, Rossi and Morgan walked through the fourth university and entered the dormitory complex. Ducking under the yellow tape that covered the room's entrance they all took a step in. Morgan took a look at the kitchen, noticing that a second glass had been removed and the sink was wet with water. He turned and noticed that one of the larger kitchen knives was missing, probably the weapon they used. Walking toward the lounge they saw a series of notes written on all of her textbooks. Taking a pair of gloves each they began to take a look around the room.

Rossi entered her bedroom to see that it was already tidy and neat. Nothing was out of place, even her bed sheets never seemed to be touched. Turning on the television Hotch saw that it was the channel that had been broadcasting JJ's statement to the media all afternoon and night. Turning it off he turned to Morgan and Rossi. "What do we think?" Rossi asked.

"This time he left us with plenty of clues. It looks like the unsub targeted her because she was alone. He probably stood at the door and knocked. She invited him in, locked the door behind her and started studying." Hotch explained.

"Then she's sitting on the couch working on something and he makes an excuse to get a drink of water from the sink. He puts on a pair of gloves to leave no prints. Opens the cupboards and takes out a glass then uses the water as a cover to hide the sound of the knife being taken from its holder over there. Then he attacks her." Morgan added.

"Because she is alone she's more vulnerable. Sitting and studying kept her eyes on her work more than him so it gave him more leeway. Her bed is hardly ever slept in showing that she probably spends most of her time either out of the apartment or studying on the couch." Rossi continued as the others listened. "There is no way that a staff member would be allowed inside her apartment; this must be a fellow student." Morgan began. "It allowed him the cover story, plus the trust worthiness of his actions as well."

"What's weird is that he attacked her right here." Rossi continued, looking down to the blood stained couch and carpet. "This time he didn't take her anywhere else to be hurt and then transport her back here post mortem."

"He's getting more violent?" Morgan offered but Hotch shook his head.

"No, he's getting more desperate. The television channel would have been showing the investigation last night. He must have seen it and felt cornered so he didn't attempt to move them to a new location." The others agreed with Hotch when his phone started to ring. Taking the phone out of his pocket he opened it. "Yeah Reid," he paused. "Okay, release it to the authorities. We'll listen in here, keep the phone on." Hotch took the phone from his ear and looked to the others. "They are releasing the profile."

Zack sat inside the tutorial for his Shakespeare class at the Literature University. Students began to arrive inside the smaller tutorial size. Sitting next to him in the available seat was a young woman short brown hair, dark brown eyes, wearing a black t-shirt and pair of three-quarter length jeans. Her necklace was of a tiger, shining in the artificial lighting of the room's fluorescent bulbs. Her eyes looked tired as she looked to the clock above the whiteboard. "Okay everyone get into pairs, we're going to work on some monologues today." Zack turned to the young lady on his right hand side.

"Hi," he began as she turned to look at him with a smile.

"Hi,"

"I'm Zack, I'm new here." His voice was trustworthy and nice.

"I'm Carina," the teenager replied with a smile. "Do you want to work together?"

"Sure," he replied opening his book and taking a copy of the monologue that was placed in front of them on the desk. Reading it over Zack exchanged glances with the girl, who was looking up to the clock every few minutes. "Do you want to be somewhere else?" He asked. Carina looked back to him with a slight smile. "No I just have a lot of stuff going on at the moment."

"You did seem a little sad," Zack replied. "I only noticed because you looked like you haven't been sleeping really well."

"I'd rather not talk about it with someone I don't know that well."

"Fair enough," Zack replied. "I understand that." It was quiet between the two as they read over the monologue in their heads when Carina yawned for a moment, using her hand to cover her widening mouth. "Don't you wish that someday you could just sleep forever and not have to worry about anything?"

"Yeah," Carina agreed. "Sometimes it's all just a bit too much, it's like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders. But I guess just about every university student has the same feeling."

"Yeah I guess," Zack replied. "Hey this is going to sound weird, but would you like to go out for something to eat this afternoon?"

"Uh... I don't know."

"It might be enough to get you out of your slump." Zack urged as Carina debated the idea over and over in her head. She had always been taught to observe behaviour, to understand how people could seem one way and be another. But there was something about this person that she felt she could trust. He was trying to help her out. "I guess it couldn't hurt to," Carina smiled.

"Okay how about I come and pick you up then?" Zack asked with a smile. Carina nodded her head and wrote down her address onto a piece of paper. "I live on campus, that's my apartment number."

"You live all alone?"

"Yeah, my parents died in a car accident just two weeks ago. I don't really have anyone to help support me anymore."

"Maybe I can help you." Zack replied placing the paper into his book.

Emily Prentiss stood in front of the police officers all sitting in their chairs and waiting for their evidence and news. Detective Adams stood at the back of the room, obviously the most anxious of them all. "Thank you all for coming." She started as they began taking out note paper and pens, ready to try and find whoever was committing the murders. "We are looking for young white male, possibly late teens or early twenties who attends university either posing as a student or who actually is one."

"He appears friendly on the surface and tries to get close to his victims and judging the wounds the victims sustained and the locations they were dumped it would appear that he did feel a connection with them." Reid continued.

"We believe that he uses the victim's key card's to access doors late at night in order to dump the bodies at their various locations and he may use an alias to get someone's trust. We are looking for a young man who may have had something happen to him which makes him compelled to kill again."

"From what we have observed it would appear that his escalation in kills has increased over the first two weeks and he may be searching for his next victim. For this reason all of the universities in the local area need to be made aware of people who may pose as students but not appear on registers or rosters." Reid concluded. "This young man uses a rouse with his victims and gains their trust then he kills them." Emily continued. "From his pattern so far, it would appear that he kills them in the afternoon and then accesses the university late at night, campuses need to be vigilant and have extra security personnel working the buildings. We have also identified one university that we believe will be his next target and have had our technical analyst advise them of the extra security procedures that must be taken at all entrances to stop his access. That is all," Emily finished as the officers began to leave the room and go out on patrol.

Detective Adams stepped forwards to the two agents, "I'm impressed," he replied. "Where are the other Agents?"

"They will be staking out the University tonight with the local authorities to check for anything suspicious. For all we know he may have already selected another victim." Emily explained as Reid took the phone from the table and told Hotch where he was best needed. If the unsub went there it would be their best bet to have a few FBI agents ready and waiting.

Meanwhile Jennifer Jereau had been talking to Sarah's parents for almost an hour now. "Did Sarah have any activities that she did outside of uni?"

"Yeah," her father, a middle aged balding man began. "She took violin lessons twice a week to keep up her skills and worked part-time as well at a bank to help pay for her fees and rent."

"Did she ever talk about meeting someone new at the university, someone who had taken an interest in her?" JJ asked, treading carefully.

"No," her mother replied before she began to sob again, her husband place a hand on her shoulders as she placed her hands over her face and leant her elbows on her knees. Her husband carefully rubbed her back while she cried as he continued to explain. "We had an argument with her before she went to university to study History. We wanted her to stay home instead of on campus but she said that she would be fine." He paused for a moment before swallowing the lump that appeared in his throat. JJ looked to him with concerned eyes that helped him to continue. "She never spoke to us after that."

"Okay I think that will be all," JJ replied as they both stood to their feet. "Again I am so sorry for your loss."

"Thank you," the man replied before leading his sobbing wife from her office and toward the elevators. JJ watched in silence as they left when Emily appeared behind her. "Anything new?" she asked. JJ shook her head. "Nothing, your profile is spot on. Where are Hotch and the others?"

"They are going to the Literature University to scout for the night. Just in case he tries to dump the next victim."

"It is Tuesday, so he still have five days to go, are you sure he would have another victim so soon?"

"If he is escalating as quickly as we think he is then he should try to dump a body either tonight or tomorrow." Emily explained as JJ nodded her head. "I'm going to get some coffee, want some?"

"Yeah that would be great," JJ replied with a smile as Emily headed to the coffee pot. It had been a long day so far, but the night would be even longer.

* * *

><p>AN: I had a question from someone about which agent will be affected during this case the most. So I want your ideasthoughts. Who would be affected and how/why. Have you created any theories while reading? Don't forget to review either way to tell me what you think of the story.


	7. Date with the Devil

**AN: Just quickly I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed/alerted/favourited and followed me through this fic. Each and every one of your comments has encouraged me and my first story so thank you! Enjoy.**

**Chapter 7 – Date with the Devil**

Carina waited inside her apartment that night ready for her date. She didn't dress up too much. She wore full length jeans, black high heel boots, a nice top and her tiger necklace. She didn't expect much to come from it and thought that if might have been just a little fun to help take her mind off things. As a knock on the door was heard Carina took her phone and wallet from the table. She always kept a copy of her key at home and gave the original to her friend across the hall for when she was locked out. Plus, she didn't entirely trust this young man. Instead of taking the key from the table as well she purposely left it behind so she could have an excuse to leave the date early if things went badly.

Walking down the hallway she opened the door and stepped out, not allowing the stranger into her apartment. "Hi," he greeted with a smile.

"Hi," Carina replied as she closed the door behind her, locking it into place. "So where are we going?" She asked as he began to walk her down the flights of stairs and toward the main entrance. "It's a surprise, but don't worry, I promise it will be exactly what you need." Zack replied as he opened the door for her and Carina stepped outside.

Hotch, Derrick and Rossi were geared up and ready to go. Their bullet proof vests attached, Glock's ready and waiting to be fired. Waiting inside the darkness for hours at a time however, was not what they were looking for. "What's the time?" Derrick asked impatiently as Rossi lifted his sleeve to check his watch. "Nearly eleven," he replied with a sigh as Hotch looked between the two. Suddenly he felt his pocket vibrate and removed his phone. "Hotch," he answered quietly.

"Anything happened yet?" Emily asked while JJ and Reid sat listening in. The police station was empty at this time of night and the empty take away containers on their desk littered any open space between the files. "Nothing yet," Hotch replied.

"Where are we going?" Carina complained when she noticed that the doors inside the car were locked. Pulling the handle frantically she tried to budge the door open. Zack didn't answer, just continued to drive around the city. "I'm taking you home."

"I can walk from here," Carina complained again when she turned to see blood stained towels inside the back seat, foam from the seat lying open in the air. Taking a deep breath into her lungs she swallowed the lump that grew in her throat to try and remain calm. "Zack," she whimpered, his eyes not looking toward her as she sat in the passenger seat. "Zack!" Using his hand Zack smashed Carina's head into the window next to her, making her eyes begin to fill with tears as she tried to get them to focus on her surroundings. "Shut up," he explained when she saw the familiar buildings of the university campus. Zack continued to drive for another moment when they arrived around the back of the building. Stopping the car and pulling on the hand break he turned and looked to Carina who was cradling her head with her hands. "Sorry I hurt you," he replied as Carina's grip on her head tightened with another wave of pain reaching her now pulsing skull. "But you will thank me later."

"Please, stop," Carina replied when she saw Zack reaching behind her. Closing her eyes for a moment she looked to see a large kitchen knife held in his hand. "I only want to help you," he whispered softly before he saw a flash of light flicker over the universities building. Ducking further behind his seat he saw security personnel all surrounding the buildings. There was no way he could dump her without being caught. Carina still hadn't focused at all; she was waiting for the end to come. Killed because she trusted someone who she thought would be a friend. Looking out the window she saw uniformed police officers walking the grounds. "HELP!" She yelled before she was met with the handle of the knife to the side of her head causing her to fall sideways, unconscious in the car seat. "Damn it!" He yelled to himself before putting the knife into the backseat of the car and casually driving past the uni, he needed a different plan.

It had been a long and tiring night for the BAU team. Emily Prentiss heard her phone beginning to ring before she opened her eyes. Reid was sleeping on a small sofa in the far corner and JJ had her head resting on the table as well. Lifting her head from the table Prentiss removed her phone from her pocket with a grimace. It wasn't a good idea to sleep slumped onto a table. She silently told herself that she wouldn't make that mistake ever again as she received the call. "Agent Prentiss," she answered with a groan as she adjusted herself inside the chair to try and get the feeling back in her legs. "Prentiss its Morgan, no sign of the unsub at any of the universities including the Literature one. How are you holding up? You sound pretty out of it?"

"Yeah," Emily sighed attempting to stand to her feet and move out of their small room so she wouldn't wake JJ or Reid. "Let's just say that sleeping in a wooden chair for eight hours isn't the most comfortable experience."

"I understand," Morgan replied.

"How's Hotch and Rossi doing?" Emily asked adjusting her back and letting out a yawn before shaking her head to focus. "Their tired but you know how they hide it," Morgan replied. "We're going to ask some of the teachers if they saw anything suspicious, someone who wasn't on their roll."

"Okay," Emily replied, it seemed that her body had finally recovered from its hardened slumber. "What do you want us to do?"

"Ask Garcia to check out the universities and see if there were any students there that didn't actually attend. Maybe we'll get lucky somewhere."

"Okay let me know when you have something." Emily finished as Morgan ended the call. Walking toward the coffee pot at the other end of the station Emily immediately began filling three cups. Taking two of them she returned to the room and placed them on the table before retrieving her own and sitting down. JJ had been sleeping quietly for a while not when she smelt freshly brewed coffee. Opening her eyes JJ lifted herself from the table with a yawn to see the inviting cup of coffee in front of her. "Morning," Emily replied, taking a sip of her own coffee.

"Morning," JJ replied as she stretched her arms to try and get her movement back. "How long have you been up?"

"Not long," Emily sighed. "Morgan called no victim at any of the universities that were being patrolled."

"Maybe he felt cornered," Reid explained as he stood to his feet and walked to the table.

"How are you not half dead?" Emily joked as JJ laughed. It seemed that being a super genius also gave him complete control over his morning wake up routine. "I think the real question should be where would an unsub go if he had his victim but couldn't dump her?" Emily and JJ exchanged a glance. "That would depend on whether she was alive or not." JJ replied. "If she is still alive then he could keep her for a while before he found the opportunity."

"Either that or he would take the body and dump it somewhere else." Emily added.

"Yeah but he is too intelligent for that. He specifically chooses his victims for a reason, and then places them on their university campuses. He wouldn't just dump them in a bin because it wouldn't fulfil his need. Would he?" Reid asked when Emily removed her phone and used Garcia's number on speed dial. "Magic keepers society how can I help you?" Garcia joked as Emily and the others agents laughed slightly. "Morning to you too Garcia," JJ replied with a smile as Emily looked to the phone as Garcia replied, "morning sunshine,"

"Garcia have there been any reports of a dumped body anywhere in Seattle over the past ten or so hours?" Emily asked, hearing the keys tapping at what she estimated would be almost ninety to one hundred words per minute. "None," Garcia replied when the results were back.

"Okay, what about missing person reports. Look for students who attend university, female, late teens or early twenties." Emily continued, the fingers tapping again as Reid and JJ took a sip of their coffee each. "None of them either my love," Emily sighed at the bad news when Reid pipped up and decided to add something. "How about university records, was there any correspondence relating to a student who wasn't enrolled in any of the classes?"

"What university honey?" Garcia asked when Emily decided to fill it in.

"The University of Literature, we think that's where he will strike next." Garcia continued to tap her keys. It was early in the morning over in Quantico and all she wanted was for her friends to all return home safely, hopefully with another criminal locked behind bars. "Yes we have three students. A Jarred Connell, Belinda Marks and Zackary Evans."

"Forget about Belinda Marks, we're certain that this unsub is a man." Emily explained as Garcia changed the search results. "What can you tell us about both of them?"

"Jarred Connell, age 24, lives inside a small town just north of the University of Literature, has been recorded sneaking into lectures and tutorials claiming to be a student who has transferred without the paper work."

"Anything else, what about criminal history?" JJ asked, wondering if either of these two was the man they were looking for. "Has been caught for speeding on numerous occasions, two arson attacks on complexes and one minor burglary."

"Any sign of a stressor?" Emily asked as Garcia searched through his records.

"He lost his mother to a fire five years ago and his father left the family and remarried."

"It still doesn't have relevance to the case." Reid mumbled as Emily decided to take the lead for the next person. "What about Zackary Evans?"

"Zackary Evans, age 23, attended university for a period of two years before oh,"

"What is it Garcia?" Emily asked taking notes of both of the young men.

"His sister was killed in an accident when he was driving her home. They were hit head on with a truck because the car lost control. His police report said that he blamed himself for his sister's death. He also was working at a local business part-time while studying, completing a paper route and a research degree on top of his study."

"Sounds like the same work schedule the other victims had," Emily added.

"You would be right," Garcia continued. "He also had a major panic attack that was triggered by stress, which caused him to go into respiratory arrest. After he was released from hospital he gave up his paper route, work and university all together."

"Sounds like one hell of a stressor," JJ sighed before swallowing another mouthful of coffee.

"What's his home address Garcia?" Emily asked picking up the phone as all three agents move from their room and out to the elevator. "Sending it through to your phones now," Garcia replied.

"Remind me to hug you when we get home," Emily replied.

"Just come back in one piece, magic keepers signing out." The elevator doors opened on the ground floor as Reid called Morgan on his cell put it on speaker phone and jumped in the back seat. Emily racing quickly to the driver's side as JJ opened the passenger door and climbed in. "Morgan," Reid greeted.

"What's up Reid?"

"We found the unsub, his home address should be on your phones now." Reid explained as Emily exceeded the speed limit and charged through Seattle traffic to get there as fast as she could. "Is his name Zack?" Morgan asked when Reid said it was.

"How did you know?" Reid asked as JJ turned to look at his troubled face.

"Her literature teacher said one of her students, Carina Lloyd, always has perfect attendance but wasn't in class. She overheard her talking with another young man named Zack who wasn't on her roll."

"We're on the way to the house now." Reid explained.

"It will take us longer to get there, wait for us." JJ reached back for the phone at that point and held it closer to her mouth to speak, "We don't have any time to lose Derrick. We can't let him take another innocent life because we had to wait for you." Derrick started to debate with her about the correctness of her actions when Emily spoke up, her eyes never leaving the road. "We can handle it. When we get there we are going in." Emily finished as JJ stopped the call and handed it back to Reid.

"Are you sure we can handle it?" JJ asked as Emily turned another corner so fast it made Reid hit the car door with a bang. "It's like you said, we don't have any time to lose."

* * *

><p>AN: Oh cliff hanger, I know people hate them but this one is super necessary. I have three questions that I'd like you to give your opinion on.<p>

1) Are you excited?

2) What do you think will happen at the unsub's house?

3) What will Zack do with Carina?

The action packed chapter 8 will be coming soon.


	8. Intentions

**AN: Thanks again everyone for sticking around, I hope no one fell off the edge of that cliff hanger :) So without further ado here is Chapter 8.**

**Chapter 8 - Intentions**

Carina had never felt the pain that came with uncertainly. She wasn't sure of a lot of things. Why she had agreed to talk to this stranger in the first place, maybe she was just trying to be polite, to make a new friend, and break from the slump that she was in. Trust was never something that she gave easily; normally she was a good judge of character; someone strong who had a sixth sense when it came to understanding a person's true intentions. Why had her sense failed her so badly now?

The only thing that she was certain of was that if she didn't open her eyes and force herself to look at her surroundings one last time she may never see the light of day again. She had to imagine that out there, there would be hope, that someone would notice she was missing, that someone would try their hardest to try and find her. That someone out there, inside the big-wide-world, would care.

Forcing her eye lids to open Carina saw that she was inside a house. She tried to move her hands but found that she had been tied to a chair with tape. The only feeling radiating from her hands and feet was complete numbness as she looked to the young man pacing in front of her with a gun. He seemed to be mumbling inaudibly with each step he took trying to find out what he should do. He seemed to be sweating terribly too, and from where she was staying she wondered if this was his actual home. It seemed to be that way. Another uncertain factor to add to her long list. She didn't know where she was exactly; she could be miles away from the city centre or mere feet away from the university campuses or the local police station. She doubted that he would be stupid enough to do the second but secretly hoped that he was.

"What am I going to do?" Zack mumbled to himself hitting his head with the palm of his hand. "I can't kill her here, she needs this. I need to help her,"

"Zack," Carina spoke drawing his attention from the gun in his hand toward the girl. Her left cheek had been cut and her left eye was now swollen and black. The hit to her head and face caused her left side to ache and pulse with each breath she took. She felt sick too, nauseous even, probably had a concussion. She still looked to the man who stood in front of her. He seemed to be crying, tears forming in his eyes. "Zack why don't you let me go?"

"No!" Zack yelled, beginning to pace again. "I need to help you; I can't let you go through that again."

"What are you talking about?" Carina asked, willing herself to stay awake and out of unconsciousness, although it was creeping closer and closer toward her.

"I can't let you go back!" Zack yelled again before he reached for the kitchen knife that she remembered from the car. He stood closer to her, looking her dead in the eyes, before he placed the knife onto her arm and began to cut diagonally down toward her wrist. Carina tried to move her arm as the line of blood appeared on top of it. She turned to Zack then and stared straight into his eyes. He stopped before he could cause too much damage. "Zack,"

"Stop talking!" He yelled.

Emily Prentiss had the car speeding well over the limit before they finally arrived at their destination. Parking further down the street she forced the car into park, pulled on the hand break and attached her vest as quickly as possible. JJ doing the same before tying her hair into a ponytail as Reid clipped his vest together. Opening the doors of the vehicle they closed them before removing their glock's and jogging up the street. They had permission to enter the house straight away; there was no way that Emily was going to wait around for him to open the door or for a piece of paper to tell her when to save a life. All she cared about right now was saving this girl before Zack added another victim to his list.

Emily's foot entered the house before the rest of her body or the team itself. Using her Glock she searched the living room before calling clear for the others to follow. Each walked down the hallway taking a separate room each before the final clear was called by Reid. They walked into the lounge room when Emily looked to the kitchen and saw the chair. The tape had been cut and blood had split down the arm and onto the floor. Looking to the knife on the floor she knew that he saw them coming. Placing a finger to her lips to signal quiet Reid halted his discussion about their surroundings. JJ continued to look around in silence when she four student ID cards inside a glass shelf, each one showing the girls smiling, excited and ready for whatever life threw at them. She noticed that the fifth and probably final victim's card was not among the collection.

Meanwhile, sitting on the ground outside, underneath the kitchen window and looking toward the pool, Zack held a gun to Carina's head as he wrapped tape around her mouth, hands and feet. Emily listened carefully when she heard the sound of duck tape and then heard the sound of someone grunt. She placed a hand on the backdoor and waited for the right moment before she burst through and saw Zack holding his newest victim with one arm around her shoulders and the gun held firmly to her head. "Drop the gun or she dies," Zack demanded as Reid and JJ stood outside and held their weapons, ready and aiming at him in case he tried to hurt anyone. "Come on Zack, you don't really want to hurt her do you?" Emily asked in a soothing tone.

"I'm not hurting her!" He yelled, forcing the gun into the right-hand side of her head with more force, making Carina release a small squeal. "I'm helping her!" Reid gave a glance to JJ who returned it easily. "How are you helping her?" Emily asked.

"Put the gun down!" He yelled to Prentiss. Emily followed orders and placed her Glock on the ground before she took a step forwards. "Don't come any closer!" Emily looked down to Carina's feet to see that they had been tied together with tape. The pool behind them was starting to worry the agent. "We know what happened?" Emily began. "Your sister, she died didn't she?" Carina looked into Emily as she stared in her direction to help reassure her that everything would be okay. "You were driving and there was an accident."

"It was my fault!" Zack yelled as tears began to flow from his eyes and onto Carina's hair. "Is that what you want to hear?"

"You had a panic attack," Emily continued. "You were trying to do too many things at once."

"I had to do too many things at once!" Zack yelled again, holding Carina closer to his chest. "Not anymore. I helped those others too! They were tired and busy," Zack laughed for a moment, his pitch and frequency causing a shiver to run up JJ's spine. "They are in a better place now, they are free," he replied before smiling. "And soon, Carina here will be free too!" With one thrust of his hand he pushed Carina straight into the water. Emily moved forwards when his gun was trained squarely onto her head. "Don't try it."

Carina drifted further into the water, it was quiet, almost calm and peaceful. Problem was that it would all be over soon. Her vision became a blur as she reached the bottom. Unable to try and get to her feet, no air inside her lungs, her world began to turn into black as she had no choice but to breathe in the water she had been holding off for so long.

Emily looked at the water as the surface became level, bubbles appearing on the surface for a moment before they popped and disappeared. Morgan parked the car as quickly as he could before he Hotch and Rossi, already to go, entered the house as quietly as possible. Morgan choosing to walk around the back. When he arrived he aimed his glock directly to the single male who had lost concentration on Emily for a moment. Emily turned to face Morgan and in a silent signal looked to the water.

Zack tried to get a better view, but from what it seemed, Carina was definitely dead. Turning around though he was met by a hard kick to his right hand side that caused him to fall and drop his gun, though as he turned to see Emily diving into the pool he used his freehand to grab her foot making the agent slam into the water with him close behind. Morgan ran to the edge but he couldn't shoot, both of their bodies were underwater, both of them fighting.

Emily clawed at the hands that surrounded her neck, she needed to breathe, she needed to save carina. A thud entered the water and as Emily managed to land a sort punch to Zacks nose and arms pulled him away from her.

Morgan returned to the surface with a struggling Zack and once they reached fresh air he pushed the young adult out of the water for Hotch and Rossi to take a hold of. Reid moved over to help give Derrick a hand as he coughed slightly and took in deep breaths. "Where's Emily?" Reids worried voice asked.

Swimming carefully down through the water Emily saw Carina, her body sitting on the bottom. Continuing to the bottom she took a hold of the teen's body and held her close before she used her legs to help lift them both to the surface.

Rossi handcuffed Zack and with Hotch they pulled him to the SUV's where Morgan followed using his phone to ask Garcia to get an ambulance and Detective Adams teams to come down and take him into custody.

JJ and Reid looked over the edge of the pool waiting for Emily to resurface and soon she did. Taking a hold of Carina's arms JJ helped to pull the teen from Emily and onto the concrete surface while Reid helped the drenched Emily from the pool. Taking breaths into her lungs Emily made her way over to Carina. "Are you okay?" Reid asked, looking at the hand marks around her neck.

"I'm fine," Emily replied, shaking his hands from her shoulders. Carefully JJ removed the tape from Carina's mouth and started to remove it from her hands. "Carina!" Emily called, reaching her side and starting to pat the side of her face. "Carina, can you hear me?" There was no response. Placing an ear next to Carina's mouth she could hear no breaths and immediately began doing CPR on the girls soaked chest. Twenty compressions and two breaths. Another twenty and Carina started to cough the water to her side. Turning her onto her side JJ and Emily helped her to clear her airways. Carina coughed another load of water when JJ patted her back as Reid walked out to give Morgan and Rossi the good news. "Are you sure you're okay?" JJ asked as Emily looked down to the teen.

"I'm fine," Emily replied before she placed a hand onto Carina's shoulder and looked her into the eye. "You're going to be okay, the ambulance is coming." Carina moved her right hand from underneath her and held it over her shoulder, her hand holding Emily's as she closed her eyes once again.

* * *

><p>AN: So what did you think? Emily fought against Zack in the pool, Carina is okay and no one on the team died Well the next chapter is when we find out whose life will change forever, though not in the way I think everyone is expecting. Chapter 9 coming soon.<p> 


	9. Filling the Void

**Chapter 9 – Filling the Void**

Sitting at the hospital, Emily Prentiss had never been comfortable. It wasn't just the white walls, ceiling, lights, rooms, beds, desks, doctor's coats or reception staff, but that each time she had been in a place like this nothing good had happened. Reid had been here after he was poisoned, Hotch was here after the Foyet attack, Garcia after she was shot. The only good thing that ever happened in a hospital, no matter which one, was the time JJ had given birth to Henry. It was the only good thing that seemed to happen in hospitals. Shivering because of the wet clothes she was in, the air conditioning that was below freezing and the blanket she had been given was far too thin, she sat for the longest time she thought she would. JJ walked from down the hall, knowing exactly what her friend needed. Handing out a cup of coffee Emily took it with her frozen hands and instantly felt better. Taking a sip she felt her insides slowly beginning to warm her body. "Have you heard anything yet?" JJ asked. Her reply was a shake of the head from Emily.

"Nothing yet, they are still checking her out," JJ leant back in her chair and watched the patients, doctors and nurses all moved around the hospital with precision. "You know it was dangerous, what you did today."

"I know," Emily replied. "But I was not going to go home feeling guilty about not trying to jump in and help her. I couldn't let that happen."

"I'm not saying it was bad." JJ smiled. "I'd like to think that I would do the same thing for a complete stranger."

"You probably would," Emily replied taking another warm sip from the cup.

"Agent Prentiss?" Called a doctor to her left. Emily stood to her feet, letting the blanket she had fall onto the chair. "How is she?"

"She is in a stable condition. We are treating her for the water she swallowed and the concussion she sustained. The knock to the head was pretty bad, if he hit her in the temple as hard as he had hit her face, I think she would have been dead there and then." Emily and JJ didn't reply.

"You can see her if you wish, it is only the two of you right?"

"Yes, that would be great." JJ replied placing a hand on Emily's shoulders as the Doctor lead them through to Carina's room. The Doctor opened the door and waited for both agents to enter before he closed it and exited. Emily took the nearest chair next to her bed as JJ took another and placed it next to her friend. Emily reached out and touched the teens hand as she slept. "She's only seventeen," JJ explained. "She entered university early because she was smart and got a scholarship." Emily looked to Carina's vitals, beeping properly and at their normal rate.

"Does she have anywhere to stay?"

"No," JJ sighed sadly. "Her parents died in a car accident a few weeks ago, no siblings, both her parents were single children so no aunties or uncles, no grandparents either." JJ took another sip of her coffee as she looked to her friend's concerned face. "It's just her," Emily turned to her friend. "All alone in the world."

"A scary one at that," Emily replied looking into JJ's eyes. "A world where she will think that every person who talks to her and says 'hi' will be enemy number one." JJ nodded her head in agreement as she looked to the clock on the wall. "Where are the others?" Emily asked.

"They are at the hotel getting some sleep before we board the plane tomorrow morning." JJ explained swapping her crossed legs into the other position. "JJ?" Emily began as she looked to her friend again. "What if," Emily paused. "What if she stayed with me?" JJ's eyebrows rose and her eyes widened for a moment in surprise. "Well, I guess it would be okay. You earn a stable wage; will understand what she's going through. Although she will be the one to have the final say."

"Yeah I know," Emily replied when Carina began to groan and open her eyes. She turned to see the eyes that had helped her through the worst day of her life. "Hi," she began her eye lids half closed.

"Hi," Emily replied with a sympathetic smile. "How are you feeling?" Carina looked to the agent for a moment before she replied, "alive." She paused. "What happened to Zack?"

"He has been taken into custody," Jennifer replied. "His trial will come soon after then he will be put away for a long time."

"Good," Carina replied when the Doctor appeared in the room.

"Hello Carina, how are we feeling?" He asked, taking the chart from the bottom of her bed.

"Okay I guess." She replied. "Whatever you have me on is working wonders," she smiled.

"I wanted to talk to you about your living arrangements." He began, "do you live alone?"

"Yes," Carina replied simply. "I don't have any family or really close friends."

"Well we will need to find a place for you to live, someone needs to help take care of your concussion and help to clean your arm bandage once a day as well. It isn't a good idea to stay alone."

"I don't have anyone else," Carina explained sitting herself up. Emily stood to her feet for a moment and used her other hand to hold Carina's hand between hers. "Actually you do," Emily began as Carina turned her gaze from the doctor at the bottom of her bed to her left where Emily stood. "You could come and stay with me." Carina's mouth dropped slightly in surprise. "It would only be for as long as you needed. I have heaps of space in my house; I can supply you with food, a roof over your head, transport, and money if you need it." Emily paused to look to JJ who nodded her head in support. "It is your choice. You don't have to if you don't want to, but I have plenty of room if you do."

"What's the catch?" Carina asked looking between Emily and JJ who just smiled.

"There's no catch," Emily replied. "You can stay with me for as long as you need to get yourself back together. I can help you get through what you've been through. Maybe we will learn from each other." Carina smiled the widest smile she had created in weeks.

"Really?" She asked, trying to understand what she heard.

"Really," Emily smiled.

"But I don't want to be a burden."

"You won't be." Emily replied holding Carina's hand a little harder. "So what do you say?" Carina thought about it for a moment. She had been through something horrible, she knew that she couldn't possibly go back to university, at least not yet. Maybe a new home would be good. A new start, a fresh start. "Okay," she replied looking to the doctor. "So when do I get to go to my new home?" The Doctor smiled.

"Please follow me Emily; I'll need you to fill in some forms before I can release her. She will stay here overnight but then she is all yours." Emily followed the doctor out as JJ got ready to call Hotch and tell him the news. "JJ, right?" Carina asked, drawing her attention from the agents badge and to her soft blue eyes. "Yeah," JJ replied with a soft smile.

"Am I making the right decision?" JJ almost laughed to herself but stifled it so it appeared as a smile. "Emily is one of the most caring and protective people I know. I think you would be making a serious mistake if you turned down her offer." Carina smiled. "You know, she was the one who decided to enter the house, who tricked Zack, who helped to save your life. You are making the right decision."

"Okay," Carina answered. "Oh but I don't have anything to wear, could you go and get some things for me from my apartment?" JJ nodded her head and removed the notepad that they used for work from her pocket. Ripping out the pages with notes on them she handed her a pen and the paper. "Write down what you need and where and I'll go and get it for you." Carina began scribbling down what she wanted and while Emily signed the papers JJ left for the car with the list.

Placing her phone to her ear she unlocked the SUV's doors and entered the driver's seat. "JJ! How's our Em and Carina doing?" Garcia asked from the other end.

"They are okay; I need the address for the Literature Universities Dormitories. I need to get a few things for Carina." JJ explained as the car pulled out of the driveway and out into the main street.

"Sure I'll send it to your phone." Garcia replied as she started typing frantically on her keyboard.

"Garcia can I also get you to send some custody papers to the hospital for me, as soon as you can."

"Sure, why?" Garcia inquired.

"Emily's decided to look after Carina for a while, until she gets back on her feet. I need to clear it all up paperwork wise."

"Oh that's great news!" Garcia smiled to herself inside her small office. "When are you all coming home?"

"Tomorrow morning," JJ replied. "Send those papers though my email and I'll get Em and Carina to sign them."

"Okay, let me know how it all goes okay," Garcia replied. "I'm off to make a few calls and then I'm going to get some sleep," she yawned tiredly. "See you tomorrow."

"Night Garcia," JJ finished as she continued to drive. Another fifteen minutes and she arrived at the apartments. Checking what Carina wrote as she walked up the various steps, she reached the apartment. "204," JJ read aloud when she saw a note underneath. "I purposely left my key behind my friend in 205 has a copy of the key. Ask Donna for it and she'll find it for you." Raising an eyebrow as she finished JJ walked the small distance to the directly across from her.

Knocking on the door twice, she waited patiently for someone to answer the door. Another two knocks and another minute of waiting and the door was being unlocked. A young woman with dark tan skin, long straight black hair and a tired look in her eye answered it. "Can I help you?" She asked rather sheepishly. "Yes I was told to speak to Donna about getting the key for Carina's Apartment." The young woman nodded her head. "Sure come in," she replied, opening the door wide enough for JJ to slip through. It was a typical university student's room, books lining all the tables, papers scattered on the floor, stationery of every type and empty frozen dinner boxes near the microwave. "How is Carina?" Donna asked, moving the lounges cushions in her search for the keys. "Everyone on Campus heard about what happened. Is she okay?"

"Physically she is," JJ replied taking a step further into the apartment. "Mentally though I don't know."

"Ah there they are," Donna proclaimed, finding the spare key underneath one of her books. She walked toward the Blonde Agent and gave her a smile. "Here you go."

"Thanks," JJ replied.

"Do you," Donna paused. "Do you think she'll come back to university?"

"I don't know," JJ replied. "Right now someone has offered to help look after her, help her piece her life together. Maybe she'll come back."

"Oh okay," Donna replied before opening the door for JJ. JJ smiled as she exited the door and found herself in the stairwell again. "Well," Donna began, the door almost completely closed. "Wish her the best for me yeah?"

"Of course," JJ smiled. "Thanks again for the help." Donna nodded her head slightly before closing and locking the door behind her. JJ took a step toward the door, used the keys inside the lock and opened it. Checking her list she began searching for her items in the somewhat messy apartment. "Okay where to begin."

Emily used the black pen she was given to sign the last space on the forms provided inside the doctor's office. Finishing the final 'S' in her surname Emily handed the papers back to the doctor. "You know," the doctor began as Emily looked to his eyes. "I think that what you're doing is really admirable."

"It's not admirable," Emily replied. "It's just right. She needs someone who can help her, I can be that someone, so why wouldn't I?"

"As you know she will be eighteen in one year's time, then she can make a decision about her living arrangements."

"I know," Emily replied.

"Well, as I already said you will need to change the dressing on her arm once a day, I have subscribed her some pain medications to help with her concussion. She should spend a day or two staying at home and not travelling too much."

"Would she be able to get on a plane?" Emily asked. "My team leaves tomorrow morning."

"She should be okay, just make sure that if she starts to feel sick or her headache gets any worse, to see a doctor when you land."

"Of course," Emily replied before standing to her feet to leave the room.

"Agent Prentiss," the doctor called. Emily turned to face him. "There's just one more thing you need to sign. Your technical Analyst Penelope Garcia sent these over to the hospital." Emily smiled, good old Pen. "These are custody papers."

"Don't I have to meet with children services first?" Emily asked, wondering if there was a reason that there was no interview. "No its all been cleared. Miss Garcia, from what she typed in the email, talked to them for you over the phone before sending the papers through. You are all clear. You just need to sign here," the doctor pointed to one line. "Then Carina signs there. I can be your witness for both signatures and then you are done."

"Thank you," Emily replied as the doctor took the papers and walked down the hallway toward Carina's room. Carina turned her head to look through the glass as Emily walked to her room and opened the door. "The doctor has the papers for us to sign, so that you can live with me."

"Okay," Carina replied propping herself up. Emily moved to her side to help adjust her pillows as the doctor entered with the papers and a pen. "Carina I need you to read the paper, make sure that you are ready for this decision, then sign it." Carina took the papers in front of her and started to read the conditions. They talked about being completely ready, that Emily doesn't have a criminal record, important things about what Emily had to provide for her and what she should do if anything was to happen while she was staying with her. "Okay," Carina replied taking the pen from the Doctors outstretched hand. She was about to place the tip onto the paper when Emily's hand covered hers. Carina looked to Emily with concerned eyes, had she changed her mind?

"Are you sure that you are ready for this?" Emily asked looking through Carina's eyes and deep into her soul. "I'm sure," Carina replied with a nod and a smile as she signed the paper. Emily smiled for the first time in days as Carina signed the paper and then handed it to Emily. Emily signed her space and gave the form to the doctor who witnessed both signatures before he smiled to both women. "Its official then, Emily Prentiss is your official guardian Carina." Emily turned to Carina and smiled, her white teeth gleaming with joy as Carina smiled in return and brought her hands up to Emily's shoulders. Emily closed her eyes and held Carina in her arms. Something about this felt right. Emily finally realised that she had just filled the void inside her heart.

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><p>AN: So Emily's life has changed and it is for the better. I know that Emily will only be her official guardian for one year until she turns 18 but if she wants Carina to stay with her they need to do it legally in writing. Just one more chapter to go but I promise the adventure isn't going to end any time soon<p> 


	10. A New Home, A New Life

**AN: So here we are the final chapter for Date with the Devil. Enjoy.**

**Chapter 10 – A New Home, A New Life**

JJ finished packing Carina's things into boxes, found her old student ID, a soft toy that her grandparents gave her for Christmas a few years ago, some clothes to change into and a few other kick knacks. Just as she was putting the laptop and its charger into the box her phone began to vibrate. "Jareau," she replied simply, not giving the caller ID a second glance.

"JJ how are Emily and Carina doing?" Hotch asked. Part of his was worried, it wasn't like Prentiss to wait at a hospital when she didn't have to, in fact, she usually avoided the place at whatever cost. "They are doing fine." JJ replied. "Look Hotch, I am going to tell you something and you need to promise not to freak out."

"What is it?" Hotch asked, he was outside on the balcony looking to the stars inside the night sky.

"Carina didn't have anywhere to stay, no family, no friends, so Emily offered to look after her."

"Okay," Hotch replied. JJ looked around the room for a moment as her face scrunched up in confusion. "Uh, Hotch did you just say 'okay'?"

"Yeah I said okay," Hotch replied again in his usual deep and dark voice. "Why?"

"It's just, I thought you would be a little more critical of this." JJ replied.

"JJ, Carina needs a home, no foster parent would be able to help her understand what happened and how to overcome it. Only Emily could do that. She had a connection to another girl remember?"

"Yeah," JJ replied. "But we found her aunty and uncle."

"I was critical of her then, asked her if this was what she really wanted. Told her that our job was dangerous. She still stood up for herself, I think that she will be able to help her, but she will get a few problems from Strauss when we get back, no doubt."

"Probably," JJ replied with a sigh. "We'll I better go, we'll meet you at the airport tomorrow with Carina."

"Okay, I'll tell the others about it." Hotch replied. "See you there."

"Yeah Hotch, see you there." JJ finished as the phone call ended. Putting it back into her pocket JJ lifted the box into her arms and out to the door. Carefully she closed it behind her, juggling the box under one arm while she locked the door. Putting the key back under Donna's door she also left a note before she walked down the stairs to her car.

Donna heard the sound of a door shutting, being locked and then heard paper being slid under her door. Walking to the door she saw the spare key had been returned along with a note. Opening the paper she read. "Donna, its Carina, I'm fine. Tell the uni that I'm not coming back. Take anything you want, sell the rest. Thanks for looking after the key. Good luck in the future." Donna read before she smiled to herself.

JJ reached the car, placed the box of goods into the back then jumped into the front seat. She started the engine and began to drive down the almost empty streets of Seattle. After twenty minutes she arrived at the hospital. Taking the box from the back she made her way to the fourth level to see Emily and Carina, each smiling and laughing with each other. It seemed that they were already getting to know each other. It was good to see Carina smile. Walking down the hallway she entered the room with a smile. "Special Delivery," JJ called. Carina took the box into her hands and looked through the box, everything was there. "Thank you JJ," she replied.

"Yeah thanks JJ," Emily added as JJ took her seat next to Emily again. "Hotch called. I told him that you offered to take Carina in."

"What did he say?" Emily asked with a slight laugh, "He probably freaked out and will ask for my gun and badge right?"

"Actually he was really calm about it all," JJ replied. Emily's face scrunched up in confusion making JJ laugh a little. "That is exactly what my face looked like when we talked."

JJ checked her phone for her emails but frowned slightly. "That's weird."

"What is?"

"I Garcia asked to send the forms to me, she didn't."

"No need to worry, she sent them to the hospital," Emily replied. "The doctor got them, she even talked to DOCS for me."

"So did you both sign?" JJ asked excitedly. Carina looked to JJ with a smile and she knew. "I'm really happy for you both, Emily will take great care of you."

"We'll right now," Emily replied with a yawn. "I think we should all get some sleep for a while. We need to leave in the morning." JJ nodded her head as she lean back in her chair and closed her eyes. Carina lay down further into her bed but didn't close her eyes. She watched as Emily closed her eyes and began to dream before she smiled slightly herself and let sleep come.

The next morning the sun's rays awoke Emily from her slumber. She looked to her left to see that JJ wasn't sleeping next to her and Carina wasn't in her bed. "Carina!" Emily called.

"Hey Emily calm down," JJ reassured as she entered the room. "She's getting dressed. Here," JJ passed Emily a cup of piping hot coffee which she sipped immediately. "Thanks," she replied. After another ten minutes Carina was ready to leave the hospital. JJ stopped off at the pharmacy to get the medications before returning to the room to see Carina being placed into the wheelchair. "I can walk," Carina complained. "Its hospital policy," the Doctor replied making her sit down into the chair as Emily took hold of the handles and began wheeling her from the room. "Well look at that," JJ commented as they reached the elevators. "What?" Emily asked.

"She's just as stubborn as you," Emily laughed for a moment and before either of them knew it, they had reached the car. Helping Carina into the back before Emily took to the wheel, JJ opened the passenger side door, entered and sat down eagerly. After a thirty minute drive through the CBD they finally reached the airport's terminal. Walking with Carina on her right and JJ on her left, Emily saw the rest of the team waiting for their departure. Morgan, Rossi, Hotch and Reid. Each one smiled when they saw them coming. When they finally arrived they all boarded the plane. "Good one Prentiss," Morgan commented as he passed. After the four hour flight they arrived at Quantico for lunch time. Carina and Emily said bye to the others as they went their separate ways before Emily directed her and her cardboard box of treasures to her car. Opening the passenger side door Carina sat down and buckled up as Emily did the same. "Ready?" Emily asked. Carina nodded before their car drove into the distance.

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending," Maria Robinson

THE END

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><p>AN: A few things to address:<p>

1: I would like to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for reading/reviewing/alerting and favouriting this fanfiction. They all mean alot to me.

2: This story is the start a series of 5 or 6 I've planned. The sequel to this story is called 'Don't Let Me Go' and focuses on how Emily will help Carina to recover from her trauma while Erin Strauss begins questioning her actions on the Zackary Evans case. Will Emily be fired for caring? Will Carina get through it all? You'll just have to check it out and see :) thanks again everyone. Until next time.


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